Sensing Hormones with printed Nanocircuits

Just as glucose meters have revolutionized the treatment of diabetes, researchers at a startup called Aneeve Nanotechnologies believe they’re building hormone sensors that could revolutionize the understanding and treatment of infertility, menopause, and other conditions related to hormone fluctuation.

Aneeve is part of a new technology incubator program at the University of California at Los Angeles. The company is working to create low-cost sensors that can be made with off-the-shelf ink-jet printers and carbon-nanotube ink. The printers lay down nanotube circuits that, upon binding to the estrogen protein estradiol, undergo a change to their resistance and optical properties and transmit that change via radio waves to another device. The company’s chief operating officer, Kosmas Galatsis says he hopes the result will be a system as convenient as glucose meters.

The image shows that the carbon nanotubes were laid down using an ink-jet printer. Researchers hope to use the technology to print sensors that detect levels of estrogen and other hormones in a drop of blood (Credit: Aneeve Nanotechnologies).

 The UCLA on-campus Technology Incubation Program at CNSI is an innovative resource with a mission to help accelerate the growth of entrepreneurial start-up companies and early stage technology research projects that originate at UCLA. Proposals/ applications for incubation space are now being considered for the Incubation space opening in March 2009

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com